


Scream Me a Dream - Deleted Scenes

by Kassmarie_writes



Series: Scream Me a Dream [2]
Category: HIM (Band)
Genre: Deleted Scenes, Extended Scene, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2021-01-03 21:00:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21185903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kassmarie_writes/pseuds/Kassmarie_writes
Summary: Deleted and extended scenes for Scream Me a Dream.





	1. DS: Chapter 40: Soya's Interview with Rosalind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: I would follow the links in the chapter if you don’t know who the bands are, just to make sense of what Rosalind says :D

** _Note: I would follow the links in the chapter if you don’t know who the bands are, just to make sense of what Rosalind says :D_ **

With every new release of a record, the international English/Spanish rock band Revolution ask a member of their fan club or a friend to interview them with fan-based questions, which one of the three members always answers, last time it was Hugo. This time around, the answering fell on Rosalind Riviera, drummer and lead singer for the band; Rosalind asked her Juilliard roommate and dear friend Soya Toivonen to ask the questions. Soya Toivonen is famous in her own right, as she is a prominent ballet dancer of the Miller Dance Company based in New York.

** _About the Band_ **

**Soya: How old were you when you started playing the drums?**

_Rosalind: I was about…7? Hugo and Luis had already been playing around with the guitar and bass respectively, and I, always wanting to tag along decided I would play drums. I asked my dad for a set and two days later, I was banging away._

**S: How did Revolution form?**

_R: Uh, it actually started as something to do after school. We would go out to [La Rambla](http://www.the-bear-den.com/travel/2004_08_Cruise/Barcelona/La_Rambla_2.JPG) and just play, Hugo would leave his guitar case open and with the money we would get from tourists and passersby we’d go get ice cream or go to a movie._

**S: You got signed when you were ten didn’t you?**

_R: Yes we did. I was ten, Hugo was thirteen and Luis was fifteen. We were playing one weekend, just fucking around, and Marcos saw us and asked us if we were signed to a label. Hell, we hadn’t even made a demo at that point, we hadn’t even thought about what movie we were going to go see that night, let alone anything for music in the future._

_We were kids playing covers of our favorite songs; we liked the idea of being signed to a label so we begged our parents to let us do it. Our parents were always supportive so they agreed, as long as Marcos, who became our manager, also agreed that school no matter what, came first._

**S: Did it?**

_R: It did, when we started touring around Spain, we weren’t allowed off the bus or anywhere near the venue until we finished our homework._

**S: Did you always have a fascination with music?**

_R: My brothers did, I liked it I wasn’t huge on it though, at least not when I was little. I was seven when we started playing together and that was only because I wanted to play with my brothers. I was listening to groups like [Menudo](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7B2ZGnVAIA) and [Timbiriche](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VWY_Jks_i8), more pop stuff. Then you have Hugo who was listening to KISS and Led Zeppelin and Luis leaned more towards [Tigres Del Norte](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ff3C-Kyv8wI), which is like…Mexican country music. Most days I don’t even know how we became a band. _

**S: What about now?**

_R: I definitely have a wider knowledge of music, and obviously, it’s a large part of my life. What was just me wanting to spend time with my older brothers became something that I’m very passionate about. I really don’t know what I would be doing if I weren’t drumming or singing._

**S: Fans have seen pictures of you when you were younger, how long did you guys play together before you stopped?**

_R: Like I said before, we got signed when I turned ten, when I was fifteen we decided it was time for a break; we were all stressed and weren’t even sure if music was what we wanted to do in the long run._

**S: What made you start back up?**

_R: Hugo actually, he was pretty unhappy working nine to five at an office, he hated wearing a tie to work and absolutely hated the elevator music that they played over the speakers. So one night at dinner, he asked us if we were interested in starting the band again, I said ‘fuck yes’, Luis was a little harder to convince._

**S: Obviously, you wanted to do something with music.**

_R: I did, when I was sixteen I was accepted into Julliard’s music program in New York, I was still deciding if I wanted to do something in music but I left at eighteen before completing the program. I went home with the mindset of getting back into music. When Hugo brought up the prospect of getting Revolution back together, I jumped at the chance._

**S: Why was Luis harder to convince?**

_R: He has a family, he was hesitant on leaving them, still is most days. He hates not being there for his kids. His wife is amazing and supportive though and told him that if music was what he wanted to do, they would make it work. I was nineteen when we talked to Marcos and he got us signed to Olympia._

**S: Do you write your own lyrics?**

_R: When we were younger, no, well for the most part we didn’t. Luis and Hugo wrote three or four that we ended up recording back then, but for the most part we were given the lyrics and scores to learn. We were pretty adamant about playing our own music, mostly because Luis couldn’t sing for shit back then. _

_But now we do, it’s one of the things Olympia was originally pretty hesitant on letting us do mostly because they didn’t know if we could write songs. Thing is, Hugo and Luis have been doing it from the start, and I learned to enhance my writing techniques when I attended Julliard. So they let us, with the terms that if the CD did badly, it was on us and not them. We agreed, the CD did well and Olympia took all the credit. _

**S: Who writes what?**

_R: Many of the heartbreak songs and sexy songs come from Hugo, as he is the one to fall in and out of love so quickly. He is our hopeless romantic and because of that, he has a lot of fodder for songs._

_The everlasting love songs, come from Luis who has been in a relationship since high school, he’s married to his high school sweetheart, so his songs are mostly based on his relationship with her._

_As for me, I write the rest, I’ve experienced both sides of the spectrum and have my own experiences with relationships as well as other things we sing about._

**S: Do you guys ever collaborate on any songs?**

_R: Very rarely, we all write at different times, so when it’s time to record we sit around my living room, pull out our notebooks and say ‘Okay, what did we go through last tour?’ and just toss out the lyrics or notes and make the ideas flow together. As for sitting down and talking out lyrics, rarely do we work like that. We prefer it that way though; it’s the fun part for us, making all our experiences flow together in an album, like fitting a puzzle together._

**S: How did Revolution end up touring with _The 69 Eyes_? You both have such different sounds.**

_R: We had just signed to Olympia about two months before I met Jyrk.i The 69 Eyes>We were still recording when they did a small show in Barcelona where we all live, I couldn’t pass that up. This was back in ’99. Marcos got me tickets and a backstage pass and ended up meeting the band. Meeting Jussi 69 had always been a dream of mine, he is one person that I have emulated when drumming, his intensity is amazing. So we got along amazingly well and from there I met Jyrki and when I told him our band had recently been signed, he showed interest in seeing a show so I told him when we were playing next._

**S: He came?**

_R: They all did, apparently, they had been looking for an opening band. While we’re rock, we are nothing like the Goth ‘n’ Roll that ‘The Eyes’ are, but they took a liking to us, asked us to come on tour with them and we jumped at the chance. Ever since then, we tour together on and off and both our fans seem to appreciate both types of music. So it has worked out quite well, There’s never been a crowd we played where we didn’t feel welcome by the fans, even if they’re not necessarily fans of ours._

**S: What is your favorite song off the new album?**

_R: Um, I love them all really. We worked hard on this album so I am proud of all the songs we have done. The one I have the most fun playing though is probably **‘Me Vale’** or **‘I Don’t Care’** on the English version of the album. It was written during a time when I was with Jyrki and we were being written about a lot in both the Finnish and Spanish tabloids, and it just got to the point where I didn’t care. They could say what they wanted but at the end of the day I was secure enough in myself and my relationship, so what they said just didn’t matter._

**S: Where do you live when you’re not recording?**

_R: Spain for the most part, but since after touring we’re usually eager to get back in the studio, we split time between New York, where we record and Barcelona, which has always been home. I have a two bedroom apartment right at the heart of Barcelona, in La Rambla._

**S: Does La Rambla hold a special place in your heart?**

_R: Oh, yes, it’s where we got our start, playing on that street at night. La Rambla has always felt like home, so when I decided I wanted to move into my own place, La Rambla was the only place I wanted to be._

_ **Friends, Family, and Love** _

**S: How would you describe your brothers?**

_R: Oh, um, let’s see…Hugo is the prankster, the life of the party really, he is always smiling, laughing, and getting everyone pumped before a show. He’s very slow to anger, he’s always so trusting of everyone and everything. Luis is much more serious and quieter, he conveys everything with his eyes and doesn’t talk unless he absolutely has to. He’s a man of few words but he’s got a temper on him and unlike Hugo, he tends to be wary of people. But at the end of the day, they’re both solid as a rock and loyal to a fault, both of them are full of love._

**S: How would you describe yourself?**

_R: No filter. I talk, a lot. Sometimes I don’t even realize what I’m saying, and after I say it I could care less, obviously it needed to be said. I’m pretty easy going for the most part, laid back. I’m happy on the road with my family or at home sitting on my balcony looking over La Rambla. I’m pretty easy to please really._

**S: You’ve mentioned you’re psychic before, would you like to elaborate?**

_R: My great, great grandmother on my father’s side was a gypsy, as was my grandmother, both of which had some sort of extra sense of just knowing things. I have it as well, but no one believes me. But I do have this extra sense of just knowing things about people and having an eerie sense of knowing when things are going to happen. You can vouch for me!_

**S: I can, you really do have a very odd sense of knowing when things are going to happen!**

_R: Thank you!_

**S: It’s pretty well known that you’ve been in an on and off relationship with Jyrki 69, how does that work?**

_R: I’m not quite sure myself, to be honest. We have always had an odd relationship, and we’re quite happy with it; somehow we find our way back to each other and we never split on bad terms. He’s a beautiful soul, I love him dearly._

**S: Who’s your favorite member of _The 69 Eyes?_**

_R: Jussi_

**S: Really? I’m pretty sure the fans were expecting Jyrki.**

_R: I bet he is too, no, no. I love Jyrki, I do, but he knows that out of all of them Jussi will forever be my favorite._

**S: What’s the most romantic thing Jyrki’s ever done for you?**

_R: Is his name actually on there?_

**S: Yes, would you like to see it?**

_R: Yes!_

**S: *shows Rosalind the questions***

_R: His name really is on there! Oh, god, um Jyrki’s done a lot of romantic things, oh this is going to sound so stupid and when he reads this he’s going to be like. ‘Really? Out of everything, this is what you consider romantic?’ Really, the most romantic thing he’s done, in my opinion has to be the first Christmas we spent together in Finland, I can’t cook for shit, so he made breakfast and we sat out on his balcony, huddled in blankets, drinking coffee and watching the snow fall. I just felt very comfortable and loved at that moment. He is going to kill me when he reads this, especially when just this morning he sent me my favorite chocolates just because he thought of me. Sorry Jyrks!!!_

**S: What is romance to you?**

_R: It is definitely not candles or rose petals, and before you ask, Jyrki knows this. I feel like roses are way to pretty and expensive to tear apart and not let bloom and wax is fucking hard to get out of any surface. It’s just moments for me, just moments that make me feel special or loved._

**S: What’s the most romantic thing you’ve done for someone?**

_R: No specific person?_

**S: Just generally.**

_R: Oh…um… I’m not a romantic person at all, but probably attempting to cook for Jyrks. Nearly burnt down his kitchen in the process, but he thought it was endearing. Really I try for those moments, no grand gestures, just little moments that show I’m thinking of him._

**S: Would you ever want to settle down and get married?**

_R: Oh. Wow. I think every little girl dreams of getting married, I know I did, but my life’s so different now than it was when I was a kid, and my life is definitely not what I thought it would be. I’m happy with my relationship now, I really don’t need marriage, and for the most part I am settled, I have a place I call home, I have a job that I love. I think right now, my life is where I want it to be and I’m happy with it._

**S: Who are your best friends?**

_R: Bitch, you snuck that one in there! _

**S: I did, so do tell.**

_R: Not saying you now. No, best friends, you of course, godmother of my child_

**S: Oh! Thank you!**

_R: Jussi is up there on my best friend list, he has been just an amazing friend and person, I love that man to death. I swear these questions are just aiming to get me in trouble with everyone! I feel bad for leaving people out of the category of best friend. All my friends have been amazing, and just had such large impacts in my life. It’s hard to categorize them into columns. Best friends, close friends, friends, acquaintances, I love all my friends…just some more than others _

** _Motherhood_ **

**S: You have a daughter, and you’ve said before that her father is well known, but you’ve never stated his name. Who is he?**

_R: Ah. That’s one question I won’t answer, I will say Impi has a wonderful relationship with him and when he wants to be known he will be. I respect his decision not to come out in the light, and we will keep it that way until he’s ready._

**S: How old is your daughter? And what does her name mean?**

_R: Impi just turned 4, and her name means ‘virgin’. Her father actually named her; he and his friends have a very twisted sense of humor, but I loved the name so we kept it._

**S: I’ve heard your daughter’s nickname is Impi 69, is that a hint to who her father is?**

_R: I didn’t know the identity of my daughter’s father was such talked about gossip within the fans. No, it’s not a hint, it’s actually a fan given nickname when Impi was about one. Because we tour so much with **The 69 Eyes**, and I was on tour with them when I was pregnant, the guys took to caring of her. It got to the point where Impi was seen either in the arms of my brothers and I or The Eyes’. A fan cleverly noticed this and mentioned it to Jussi when she met him, ever since then Impi has been known as Impi 69 and it just stuck._

**S: Are you going to stop touring once Impi starts school?**

_R: It’s actually something I’m not sure of. I think once she is old enough to start kindergarten we’ll ‘bus school’ her as I like to call it. Have her go through the same set of rules my brothers and I went through when we toured and probably continue until she tells me she wants to go to school. Really, I never understood what Luis meant when he said he would do anything, even stop playing music, if his kids asked him to. I didn’t understand until now, if Impi asks me to stop I would, without hesitation and without regret, if that made my baby girl smile._

**S: What made you decide to take Impi with you on tours in the first place?**

_R: Luis’ wife offered to take care of her, but she has three rug rats of her own and I couldn’t just hand Impi off. My parents passed away when I was younger, and I don’t want to burden Impi’s other set of grandparents. Impi’s father also travels and all my friends travel for work too. Really we’re all just gypsies. So a sense of guilt is my reasoning to have Impi with me. That and I think I would miss that child way too much to ever leave her somewhere else._

**S: Does the fact that you have Impi on the bus with you ever affect your touring schedule?**

_R: Well really, it hasn’t changed because of Impi. When we were younger we toured non-stop, when we started back up, one of the terms Luis had for joining the band again was having the months of his kids’ birthdays off, and the months of major holidays. So it limits the time we spend touring, but we don’t mind it. When Impi was born, we were already limiting our tours and I really liked it. It’s nice to go home for a few months and give her that sense of normalcy._

**S: You say you like giving her a sense of normalcy by taking her home, how do you maintain that on tour?**

_R: Just like any other child, she has her rules. Just instead of not crossing the street without an adult, it’s don’t wander around the venue or fair grounds without an adult. She has a set bedtime, eight o’clock during the week and on Fridays and Saturdays she is allowed to be up until she passes out, which is usually around ten._

**S: Does she like being on the road?**

_R: For the most part, she’s been to a lot of places that four-year olds can’t even pronounce. There are moments when she gets a bit stir crazy and fussy, but then so do the rest of us. We’ve learned with Impi, that really we can only travel for about three months at a time before she just doesn’t want to be on the road anymore. So we also take that into account when planning out tours._

**S: I’m guessing tours are a lot more work in planning for you guys, than it is for most bands.**

_R: Marcos hates us. he dreads when we start planning an album because it means that he’s going to be spending his nights calculating time frames we can travel, marking out months we can’t, taking Impi’s fussiness into account, what other bands are touring at the same time that we might be able to hook up with? What festivals are we committed to?_

_I remember we were having dinner at Luis’ house just after we finished the album and he came in just looking horrible, his suit was un-tucked and dirty, his hair was just in disarray from how much he was pulling at it. He just kept bitching about how we make his job so fucking hard because we can’t travel six months out of the year. We were teasing him about how he just likes to complain. So as proof as to how hard we make it on him, he showed us the calendar he uses to mark out months and days. Half of the calendar was blacked out and the months that weren’t still had days that were still blacked out._

_We felt so bad for him; we are probably one of the only bands that will hold concerts on a Tuesday in September because Friday, Luis has to be home for his son’s soccer game._

** _Fun Facts about Rosalind_ **

**Full name?**  
_Rosalind Josefina Riviera_

**Birthday?**  
_April 1, 1980. Seriously, you have no idea how many pranks have been pulled on me on my birthday._

**Natural hair color?**  
_Dark brown_

**Eye color?**  
_Brown._

**Favorite Color?**  
_It changes every week, this week it’s green_

**Favorite Food?**  
_Paella. I’m from Spain, I can’t not love paella._

**Favorite song?**  
_So many, but probably the one I love the most is ‘Claridad’ by Menudo, we still perform it at concerts._

**Favorite Movie?**  
_Lost Boys, apparently quoting obscure lines from this movie is a turn on for certain men. _

**Favorite Band:**  
_Oh…so many. Not enough time in the world to name them._

**Preferred side of the bed:**  
_The right, Impi tends to take the middle and cuddle up to my side so I’m forced to one side of the bed._

**Any tattoos and what are they?**  
_I have four. Cherry blossom branches on my ribs with two birds sitting on the branches, a heart on my left wrist, but the heart is made up of Impi’s name, an Ankh on my right hip, and J69 in a gothic script on…well, it’s somewhere on my body. _

**What do your tattoos represent?**  
_The cherry blossoms are for my parents, I got it a few months after they passed away. I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve and since Impi is my heart, I thought it was only fitting to get it; as for the Ankh and the J69….they represent reminders to never gamble with Jussi and Jyrki._

**Any parting words for fans?**  
_Love yourself, live life as you want to and listen to our music…I need the money. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is a bit of insight into Rosalind, whom a lot of you already are looking forward to reading about. I was actually going to put this in Chapter 40, but because it revolved more around Rosalind then it did Soya and Ville I cut it out. But I already had about half of it written, and couldn’t just leave it unposted. So I hope you guys enjoyed a bit of a sneak peek into Rosalind’s life.
> 
> Note that Rosalind's band 'Revolution' is based off a real latin rock band by the name of Mana, so the song 'Me Vale' does not belong to me, but to Mana. :D


	2. DS: Chapter 41: Skype is NOT for Rockstars

_“What are you working on?”_

Soya smiled as she heard the accented voice she hadn’t heard in nearly two weeks as she put the phone between her ear and shoulder and opened the bag of angel hair pasta. “Is that how you start every conversation, Mr. Valo?”

_“I’m sorry.”_ Ville chuckled into her ear. _“Good evening Miss. Toivonen, how are you this fine evening?”_ Ville paused. _“Is that better?”_

“Much.” Soya laughed. “And I’m fine, how are you Mr. Valo?”

_“I’m well. Now, what are you working on?”_

“I’m fixing dinner for the hungry teenagers in my house.”

_“Teenagers? As in plural?”_ Ville asked.

“Yep.” Soya said, peeking under the lid of the stainless-steel pot on her stove, making sure the water was boiling before starting to put the pasta in. “Regan has finals next week, so he, Emmy and a few other students from his Economics class are studying up in his room. Though by the level of music that’s being played, the amount of noise they’re making, and the food that’s being consumed, I have a feeling they’re actually having a mini party rather than studying.”

_“What are they listening to?”_

Soya laughed. “I think Regan’s iPod is on shuffle because I heard your voice coming out of there a minute ago, it made me jump.”

_“Did you start looking for me?”_ Ville teased.

“Don’t tease!” Soya said, feeling her cheeks heat as she thought about the fact that she had in fact turned in confusion when she’d heard his voice in her house.

_“You did!”_ Ville laughed.

“Oh shut up.” She muttered.

_“So what are they listening to now?”_

Soya frowned as she strained her ears, “Sounds like…KISS.”

_“Good mix.”_Ville snorted. _“So other than fixing dinner, you’re not doing anything?”_

Soya laughed. “Not really, I was sitting in the living room working on some sketches and watching a bit of TV.”

_“You have your laptop?”_

Soya frowned. “Yes.” She said slowly as she stirred the pasta, making sure they were all submerged in the water before covering the pot and making sure the flame was on low.

_“Do you have Skype?”_

Soya laughed. “Ville is this your way of asking me to log on, so we can see each other.”

_“Maybe.”_ He hedged, though she could hear the teasing in his voice.

“Give me a minute.” Soya laughed, as she made her way out of the kitchen and into the living room, opening her laptop as she settled back on the black floor cushion that was sitting in front of her coffee table, which was scattered with her notebooks and pencils, while her laptop sat humming on the side the screen blank. “You’re awfully quiet.” She said as she logged on to her Skype account that Josef had made her get when he’d gone to visit his family without her nearly two years ago.

_“You told me to wait, so I’m waiting.”_ Ville laughed.

“All right I’m logged in.”

_“Ah I see you.”_

Before she knew it, the dial tone was hitting her ears as the message box lit up at the bottom of her screen with Ville’s name on it. She opened it and saw his grinning face. “You hung up on me.” She accused.

“But I’m right here.” He said.

“Where are you?” She asked as she looked at his surroundings, he was sitting in a booth next to a window as he cradled a guitar between him and the table he was sitting at.

“The bus, we’re leaving Switzerland and finding food.” He said with a grin.

“Everyone else on the bus with you?”

“No, we left them at a gas station.” Ville laughed. “Of course, everyone else is here.”

“I say hi!” Soya grinned.

Ville laughed and looked over the top of his laptop. “Soya says hi.”

She heard a chorus of ‘hellos’ and a hand wave over the screen, before Ville slapped it away.

“Everyone says hello back and Mige was the one waving erratically.”

“Aww, he misses me.” Soya laughed.

“Now, show me what you were working on.” Ville told her.

Soya rolled her eyes. “We haven’t talked or seen each other in nearly two weeks, and you want to see what I’m drawing?”

Ville smirked. “Would you rather show me what you’re wearing?”

Soya frowned at him before looking down at her shirt and pulling the hem so he could see the ‘Rolling Stones’ logo, “One of your shirts and my yoga pants.”

“How boring.” Ville grinned. “What about underneath?”

“I’m not wearing anything underneath.” Soya frowned, only to hit her palm on her forehead as she realized what he meant the minute he started laughing at her. “Oh shut up Ville.”

“You’re the one that said it Soya!” Ville snickered.

“I’m wearing something underneath my clothes, and no I’m not going to show you, especially not with everyone else on the bus.”

“If they weren’t on the bus, you’d show me. Because if that’s the case, I’ll make the bus driver stop and kick everyone off…OW!”

Soya stifled a giggle as she saw a hand shoot out and hit Ville on the side of his head. “Thank you Mige!” she said.

“It wasn’t Mige, it was Linde.” Ville grumbled.

“So how was the Greenfield Festival yesterday?” she asked, having been keeping up to date on where the band was headed.

“Really good, though they tend to go that route.” He smirked.

“Don’t get cocky Valo.” Soya teased. “All you’re going to do is jinx yourself.”

“Jinx myself?” Ville grinned. “How so?”

Soya grinned back, enjoying how normal the conversation felt. Here she was, in New York fixing dinner for a group of high school kids that she hoped were studying for finals, while Ville was on a bus with his friends and band mates headed to their next venue, and they were teasing each other as if they were in the same room.

“Who knows?” Soya laughed. “You start getting cocky and get large headed and your microphone might just fail in Sweden.”

“Ah! We can’t have that now, can we? How do I reverse it?”

Soya bit her lip, “You have to stand up, jump on one foot while singing….” She paused as she thought about a song and smiled at him “_“Looking for Freedom”_ at the top of your voice.”

Ville snorted. “I think I’ll take my chances with the microphone and don’t mock ‘The Hoff’”

“Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Soya laughed.

_“I’ve been looking for freedom.”_Ville sang quietly, only to snort. “Well thank you Soya, now I’ve got it stuck in my head.”

“You are so very welcome.” Soya laughed only to turn when she heard someone clear their throat from behind her. She saw one of Regan’s study friends standing behind the couch biting her lip nervously. Soya pushed the screen of her computer down a bit, so the girl couldn’t see Ville on the screen.

“Sorry,”

“It’s fine.” Soya said with a smile. “Jessica, right?”

“Right. Regan sent me down here, he was wondering about dinner?”

“Oh.” Soya laughed. “Let me check on it,” she brought the screen up a bit. “I’ll be right back,” She told Ville who nodded. “I’m going to check on dinner.”

“I’ll be here.” Ville assured as she nodded and pushed the screen back down before heading towards the kitchen again, Jessica following her. Soya looked into the pot and stirred the pasta.

“The pasta still has about five more minutes sweetheart.” Soya said to Jessica.

“Oh, all right,” Jessica bit her lip. “Do you mind if I use your bathroom?”

“No, of course not; there’s one just down the hall here, if you want to use it, it’s the door on the left.”

“Thanks.” Jessica said as she disappeared into the hall behind the staircase. Soya shook her head and headed up the stairs, going towards Regan’s room and knocking loudly to be heard over the music.

“Come in!” Regan shouted.

Soya opened the door and couldn’t help but smile at the six teenagers who were lying around the room, each with a book and notebook open, while music blasted from the speakers of Regan’s stereo.

“How can you study with the music this loud?” Soya asked

Regan turned down the stereo as he frowned at her. “What?”

Soya rolled her eyes. “How do you guys study with the music this loud?”

Regan smirked at her. “How do you dance with an orchestra playing two feet away from you?”

“Touché.” Soya grinned, “By the way, next time you want to know when dinner is, go down and ask yourself, don’t send someone else to do your dirty work.”

Regan shrugged. “She was going that way anyway I figured she might as well ask. When will dinner be ready? We’re starving.”

“Another ten minutes or so, so if you want to start heading down, half of you can wash up here and half of you can wash up downstairs.”

“Perfect.” Regan said as he and Emmy jumped off the bed and the rest of the kids followed suit, breaking up into groups and heading towards the bathrooms, Regan and Emmy following her downstairs to wash up in the kitchen. Soya headed to the living room, to let Ville know she would be a bit longer, only to frown when she saw her laptop wasn’t on the coffee table.

“What in the world?” she muttered as she scratched the back of head in confusion.

“What’s up?” Regan asked, drying his hands with a paper towel.

“I left my laptop right there.” Soya said with a frown. “Just two minutes ago.”

“You sure?” Regan asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Positive, I was talking to Ville.” Soya said. “I was sitting there when Jessica came in and asked if dinner was ready. I got up, went to the kitchen then headed upstairs to talk to you.”

“Yo, Reg.”

Regan turned towards the hallway to see Bryant standing there. “Yeah?”

“I think there’s something going on in the bathroom.” Bryant admitted. “The door’s locked and I think that Jessica chick is talking to herself.”

Regan frowned as he turned to Soya who was still staring at the coffee table in confusion. “You said you were talking to Ville?”

“Mmm, Skype.” Soya said absently, still baffled as to where her laptop could have gone.

Regan cursed. “Did Jessica see Ville on the screen?”

Soya blinked and looked over at Regan. “Oh Regan, surely even if she had seen him, she wouldn’t have taken the laptop.”

“Soya!” Emmy called, “I think the pasta’s done!”

“Oh!” Soya squeaked, forgetting her laptop as she rushed towards the kitchen.

Regan rolled his eyes and headed towards the bathroom. He loved Soya, he loved her dearly but sometimes the woman was way too innocent for her own good, she only thought the best of everyone and never saw the bad. Thankfully, Regan saw the bad and he knew that Jessica, the Ville Valo fan that she was, would have definitely taken the laptop had she caught the barest of glimpses of Ville. And since Jessica was one of the music writers for the school newspaper, she would definitely take the advantage of getting an interview with Ville.

“Jessica?!” He asked, pounding on the door, only to hear her squeak in surprise.

“Yeah?” She asked quietly.

“Open up.” Regan ordered.

“I’m sort of busy Regan.” Jessica said thought he door.

“If you don’t open the fucking door, I’m coming in either way.” Regan warned. When he didn’t hear the click, he bent down and held his hand out to Nicole who was standing next to him.

“What?” Nicole asked.

“Bobby pin.” Regan ordered.

Nicole laughed as she took a bobby pin out of her hair, handing it to Regan who stuck it in the little hole near the doorknob and pushed, causing the lock to pop open. He opened the door to see Jessica sitting on the floor the laptop on front of her.

“What the fuck were you thinking?” Regan yelled as he grabbed the laptop from the floor.

“Regan, calm down.” Ville said softly.

“No!” Regan said, glaring at the girl.

“Hey! Hey!” Soya’s voice came through, as she pushed through the bodies of teenagers that were blocking the door. “What in the world is all the yelling about?”

“Jessica stole your laptop!” Regan yelled.

Soya sighed, running a hand through her hair “All right,” she said slowly “Can I have it back please?” Soya asked.

Regan handed the laptop to Soya. “Are you going to do anything about it?”

Soya nodded. “I will, but I would like to finish having my conversation with Ville if you don’t mind.”

“Sure.” Regan muttered.

“Why don’t you all head to the dining room for dinner, I’ll be there in a minute.” Soya said, nudging Regan past her towards the door.

Jessica stayed in the corner of the bathroom, staring at Soya wide eyed. “I’m…”

“You go too.” Soya ordered. “I’ll talk to you in a minute.”

Jessica nodded quickly before scurrying out of the bathroom. Soya sighed and sat down on the toilet seat, balancing the laptop on her knees. “I’m so sorry Ville.”

“It’s fine Soya.”

“I should have…”

Ville chuckled. “Really nothing could have prevented that, she saw me even before you lowered the screen. No harm done.”

Soya sighed. “Sorry you got kidnapped.” She said lightly, causing Ville to chuckle.

“It’s this pretty face of mine, it gets me in trouble.”

Soya shook her head. “That microphone is going to fail.” She warned with a smile.

“As much as I’d love to continue talking to you Soya, I have to go, we’re going to take a rest stop and I have a phone interview in a few minutes.”

“No, that’s fine.” Soya nodded. “And hey, we learned something today.”

“Did we?” Ville asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Skype, it’s not for rock stars.” Soya said seriously, causing Ville to laugh.

“No, most definitely not.” He smiled softly at her. “I’ll call you later?”

Soya nodded. “I’ll be up late tonight; next few weeks are going to hectic around here though. We’re getting ready for Regan’s graduation and his party, so I’ll be running around a lot.”

Ville nodded slowly. “We’ll figure something out.”

Soya bit her lip and nodded. “I know, miss you.”

Ville smiled softy at her. “Miss you too Kulta.” He blew her a kiss, causing her to giggle before giving a small wave and signing off. Soya closed her laptop and left the bathroom, going into the kitchen and setting the computer on the counter, while she saw the silent teens sitting at her table, all of them glaring at a nearly crying Jessica.

“Do you need help Soya?” Emmy asked, causing everyone to turn to Soya.

“Do you mind grabbing plates Emmy?”

“No problem.” Emmy said, jumping from her seat and helping Soya in the kitchen. “It’s taking all of Regan’s restraint not to yell at her.” Emmy whispered.

“Yes well, I’m pretty upset myself.” Soya admitted as she poured the white sauce into the pasta, along with ground beef, she had cooked beforehand. She mixed it all together, making sure everything was evened out, before pouring into a large glass bowl, with serving forks and taking into the dining room and setting it at the center of the table as Emmy grabbed the salad and set it next to it.

“Before you all start eating.” Soya said. “I just want to say something.”

They all turned their attention to her as she settled on a bar stool. “I’m not mad that you took my laptop.” She said to Jessica, who looked up in surprise. “I’m upset with the way you did it.”

“I’m so sorry!” Jessica cried, her voice cracking with tears.

“I appreciate that.” Soya nodded. “I just wish that you had asked before taking it. I don’t mind letting you talk to Ville, and Ville doesn’t mind talking to fans. You are a fan right.”

Jessica nodded. “I just saw him and thought I could get an interview for the school paper, I didn’t think…” Jessica trailed off as Soya nodded slowly.

“Like I said, I don’t mind you talking to him, I understand that you’re a fan and want to ask your questions and Ville doesn’t mind answering them, but next time, ask before you take things that aren’t yours.”

Regan glared at Jessica. “He’s Soya’s friend and she hasn’t talked to him in almost two weeks, all you did was make the separation harder.”

“Hey.” Soya said, causing Regan to look at her. “Enough. She apologized, I accepted it and Ville isn’t upset. Let it go.”

“But-” Regan started.

“I mean it Regan, let it go. Now enjoy the food, I’ll be in the living room if you need anything.” Soya said as she grabbed her laptop off the counter and went back to the living room sitting on her cushion and turning the volume up on the TV ignoring the sound of clinking silverware that was coming from the other room.

She looked at her phone, and smiled when she saw a text from Ville, sent two minutes after they had signed off.

** _Can it be any Hoff song to break the jinx? Because if so, I’m very willing to sing ‘Jump in My Car’ while jumping on one foot._ **

Soya laughed and shook her head. While Skype might not be the best way for them to communicate, especially when she had a houseful of music fans apparently, she knew they would make the separation between them work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Looking for Freedom](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ot_katYYiU)   
[Jump in My Car](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm7jEA3frY4&ob=av2e)


	3. Extended Scene: Ville and Soya First Meet

_ **1995** _

“Soya! Soya, over here!”

Soya looked around the sidewalk, before smiling at her friends and jogging over, giving the older girls a hug. “Sorry, my class ran late. Have you two been waiting long?”

Elli shook her head as she adjusted the strap of her gym bag on her shoulder. “No, we just got out ourselves; we were actually talking about Inka and her boyfriend.” Elli smirked.

“Ah, a new one already Inka?” Soya laughed.

“Don’t tease me tyttövuva.” _(Baby girl)_ Inka grinned, causing Soya to roll her eyes.

“Just because you’re three years older, does not mean I’m a baby.” Soya said crossing her arms over her chest.

“Then you won’t be bothered by the errand Inka and I have to run before taking you home.” Elli smirked.

Soya frowned. “What errand?”

“Follow us; we won’t be needing the car quite yet.” Inka said pulling Soya forward as they walked down the street away from their dance studio.

“Where are we going?” Soya asked, as she looked at the windows of the shops. The only places that were close to the dance studio that Elli and Inka could possibly go to were a coffee shop, a clothing store and a couple of restaurants that were a few blocks away. Soya looked at the direction they were going and sighed. “If you wanted to indulge in pizza, why didn’t you just tell me that?”

“Oh Soya, pizza is not what’s on our mind.” Elli said with a giggle.

Soya frowned. “I thought you were allergic to Thai food Inka.” She said, knowing that next to the pizzeria, there was a Thai food restaurant close by as well.

“Soya, Soya, Soya.” Inka said, wrapping her arm around Soya’s shoulder. “Trust me when I say we are not interested in pizza nor Thai food, but the store that’s tucked in between the two.”

Soya frowned as she scanned the area only to stop wide eyed in the middle of the sidewalk, staring at the two older girls. “No.”

“Come on Soya.” Elli said with her own frown. “Stop being such a prude.”  
Soya gaped at Elli. “I am not a prude!” She looked around at the people who had stopped at her exclamation, only to blush at their stares before they continued walking. “If my mother ever found out…”

“If _our_ mothers found out, we’d all be in the same position.” Inka said with a smirk. “It’s why we’re not telling our mothers, _right_?”

Soya sighed. “I don’t know why I have to go with you.” Soya groaned as she started walking again.

“Because we’re your ride home Soya.” Inka said impatiently as she grabbed Soya’s wrist and tugged on it.

“I won’t even be allowed in!” Soya pointed out as they got closer.

“Then just stay by the door and out of the way.” Elli said with a roll of her eyes. “We’ll only be a minute.”

“Yes, I know exactly what I want.” Inka smirked, as they passed the Thai food restaurant; Elli opening the door to the shop. Soya sighed as she walked in, not bothering to fight it. Inka and Elli had strict instructions from both her mother and father to keep an eye out on her.

With those instructions, she really had no choice but to go inside the shop and stay within eyesight of the girls. Inka let go of her hand, following Elli and showing the young man at the counter their IDs with giggles. He nodded at both of them, his obvious way of telling them it was fine to go further in, before they went giggling into the store, shooting him glances, causing him to roll his eyes.

She looked over at him and bit her lip. He was probably about Inka and Elli’s age, eighteen or nineteen, with shoulder length dark brown hair and he was fiddling with a pen that sat on the counter he was working at. Not wanting to get caught by the clerk, she moved closer to the door, only for the movement to catch his attention, his green eyes meeting her grey ones. He raised an eyebrow in her direction and smirked.

“You can come closer.” He teased. “None of the merchandise bites…much.”

“I know that.” She snapped looking away from him, only to wince at the sound of her voice, ‘That had been rude’ she thought. She looked over to see if he was annoyed, but he only seemed amused as he kept his gaze on her. She sighed. “I’m fifteen.”

“Yes, and I’m nineteen.” He laughed then looked over at the other girls who were giggling at one of the packets on the wall. He looked back over at her. “You can stay, as long as you stay near the register.”

She nodded but stayed near the door. “Thank you.”

He rolled his eyes. “That was a hint for you to come closer.”

“Oh.” She muttered, nibbling her bottom lip and slowly moving closer to him.

“There you go.” He laughed. “I don’t bite either.”

“Hmm.” She said, crossing her arms over her chest as she avoided looking too closely at the merchandise, knowing that it would cause the nearly permanent blush that usually stained her cheeks to appear.

“So, if you’re fifteen, why are you here?” He asked. She could feel his eyes watching her curiously.

“They dragged me in.” she said looking at her friends. “They’re my ride.”

“Ride from where?” he asked curiously.

“I practice at the dance studio a few blocks down.” She admitted, pulling her sports bag up for him to see the dangling ballet shoes.

“Ah, so you’re flexible.” He smirked.

She frowned. She was a ballerina, obviously flexibility was a must. “I have to be.” She said slowly.

He gave a snort of laughter as he looked at her, his green eyes gleaming in amusement. “I’m Ville Valo.” He said, sticking out his hand for her to shake.

“Soya Toivonen.” She said slowly, taking his hand, ignoring the warmth that ran through his palm to hers, before she slid her hand away and stuffed it in her grey hoodie’s pocket.

Ville frowned. “Toivonen?” he asked. “As in…”

“Yes, Jonah Toivonen, I’m his only daughter.” She said with a roll of her eyes; she hated that her last name was in the news so much, it was the price of having a politician for a father.

“I didn’t think the Minister of Finance had a daughter.” Ville admitted, still looking at her.

“I’m not in the news much; they keep me pretty well shielded.” She admitted. “Go to school, go to practice and go home.” She shrugged. “That’s my life.”

Ville smirked. “Then I think I need to help you branch out.”

Soya laughed as she finally looked at him. “I don’t even know you.”

“Then I say you get to know me.” He said with a grin, causing her to grin as well.

“Just like that?” She asked. “Because you say so?”

Ville blinked, though his smirk never left his lips. “Well, if I don’t say it, who will?”

“Who indeed?” Soya said quietly, biting her lower lip.

“You’re not like your friends, are you?”

Soya blinked. “Why do you say that?”

Ville shrugged. “You’re younger than they are and yet you don’t giggle at the sight of the dildo that’s sitting near your elbow.”

Soya looked down, only to blush and quickly look away. “Obviously people find some type of…pleasure from what you sell; it’s not something to be giggled at.”

Ville smiled at her, noting that at the word ‘pleasure’ her cheeks had tinted a darker red. “True, yet you still blush.”

Soya laughed quietly, looking back at him, her grey eyes holding him captive. “I embarrass quite easily.”

“And so proper too.” Ville teased, but let the subject drop, even if he did enjoy watching the blush creep up her cheeks. “So, is dancing what you want to do in the long run?”

Soya shrugged. “I guess, I like it for now, it gives me something to do other than sitting at home and studying. Why do you work here?” She asked, looking over at him with a raised eyebrow. “Is this what you want to do in the long run?”

Ville laughed, catching the teasing lilt in her voice. “It’s my father’s store.”

Soya stared at him in disbelief. “Your father’s?”

“Have a problem with it?” Ville asked, his soft gaze hardening a bit.

“Not a bit.” Soya said with a quick shake of her head. “Just…my father would kill me if he found out I stepped foot in a store like this, let alone worked at one.”

Ville chuckled. “Yes well, I’m sure it’s more for the media’s sake than for the idea of working at a sex shop.”

Soya shook her head. “No, I’m pretty sure the idea of me working at a store like this would cause my father to seize.”

Ville chuckled. “‘A store like this’, you can say sex shop, you know, I won’t be offended.”

“Don’t hold your breath, little Soya doesn’t curse.”

Soya looked over at her friends as Elli came back and pinched Soya’s cheek, causing Soya to frown at her and cross her arms over her chest. “I hate it when you call me that Elli.”

Elli laughed. “Ah, Soya; don’t be annoyed.”

“Found it.” Inka sang as she walked up to the counter, holding the movie. “This is the one Aapo was telling me about.”

“If you marry him, little Soya will never be able to look him in the face.” Elli teased as Ville rang up the movie.

“I refuse to be a bridesmaid to _that_ wedding.” Soya muttered, causing Ville to snort as he told Inka the total.

Inka gave him the money, stuffing the movie in her sports bag before smiling at him. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, have fun.” Ville smirked as he handed Inka her change.

“Keep it.” Inka waved at him, “For keeping little Soya company. Come on, your mother will kill us if we get you home late Soya.”

Soya nodded, biting her lip, before sending Ville a smile. “It was nice talking to you Ville.”

Ville nodded. “Nice talking to you as well.” He bit the inside of his cheek, watching as she gave him once last glance before she followed her friends out. He tapped his foot on the floor, before quickly abandoning his spot at the counter and going outside, calling Soya to stop.

The three girls turned with wide eyes, causing Ville to shake his head. “Sorry, I just…” he looked down, letting his hair cover up the red tint that threatened to cover his own cheeks, before stuffing his hands in his pockets and looking back up, catching Soya’s grey gaze.

“Yes?” The girl he remembered Soya calling Elli said.

“I just….” He shrugged. “Just wanted to know when you’d be back in the area.” He admitted.

“Oh!” Soya squeaked.

Inka laughed. “We practice every Saturday at noon until four, and Wednesdays from three to five.”

“Oh, all right, well then, I hope to see you…all…again soon.”

Elli giggled. “I’m sure you will; come on then Soya.”

Soya sent him once last glance over her shoulder, watching him give a small wave before heading back into the shop, as Elli pulled her down the street, back towards the studio. “Our little Soya is growing up!” Elli cooed.

Soya frowned. “What do you mean?”

Inka laughed. “Other than the boys in our classes, you don’t even talk to the boys at school; I have to say the sex shop boy is the first you’ve even looked at.”

“Oh! Don’t call him that!” Soya said with a frown. “His name is Ville.”

“Next she’ll be telling us his phone number.” Inka teased, pinching Soya’s cheek. “Come on tyttövuva, let’s get you home.”

“I really do hate it when you call me that.” Soya said with a sigh as she followed her friends towards the car.

_ **XxxxxxX** _

Ville crushed the stub of a cigarette on the wall he was leaning against as he watched the doors to the dance studio open and a mix of girls and boys flood out. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the blushing fifteen-year-old since she’d walked down the street flanked by her two friends, that last Saturday. Even his friends Linde and Mige, had realized something was on his mind when they’d had band rehearsal the day before.

He wasn’t even quite sure why he was so captivated by her, he knew virtually nothing about her, just that she was a ballet dancer, she was fifteen, and she had the most innocent looking grey eyes he’d ever had the pleasure of making contact with. Shaking his head to clear it, he watched the groups that were idling in front of the building, only to catch sight of the dark wavy hair standing on one of the steps looking around, only to meet his gaze and freeze.

Ville kept her gaze, never blinking as he tried to rationalize the feelings that flooded through him. The hands he had stuffed in his pocket grew sweaty, knots of nervousness filled his stomach and he was sure he would have to pull out his inhaler soon, if his damn heart didn’t stop racing like he’d ran a fucking marathon.

All of a sudden, he blinked, feeling himself calm, he crossed the street before he could rethink his actions and before he knew it he was standing in front of her, speaking.

“There’s something about you Soya Toivonen, and I can’t quite put my finger on what it is, but I want to try.”

A sly smile made its way to her lips, “I should warn you, Mr. Valo, I’m not that type of girl.”

Ville frowned at her, only to laugh when he caught on to what she meant, “I assure you, it’s only friendship I want.”

Soya bit her bottom lip, before letting it slide out of her front teeth and grinning at him. “I’d really like that.”

Ville gave a breath of relief as he smiled back at her. “Good, that’s good.”

“You were doubtful I’d agree to your friendship?” She teased.

“A bit, if I’m being truthful. Are you busy right now?”

“I’m actually looking for Elli and Inka.” Soya admitted. “They take me home after class.”

“Oh, I just thought, maybe you’d want to go grab a coffee or something. I mean, if you drink coffee, you could get a tea if you don’t.” Ville winced at his rambling and ran a hand through his hair.

“I do…I mean drink coffee…on occasion.” Soya said, capturing her bottom lip again. “Uh…we usually go get an early dinner after class…”

“Oh, then I won’t keep you.” Ville said taking a step to leave.

“No, no, I mean…” Soya sighed, before giving him a smile. “Just wait here?”

“Yeah, yeah. Sure.” He nodded.

“All right.” She laughed, dropping her bag at his feet before jogging down the steps. He watched her walk over to a group of girls, tapping one of them on the shoulder. When Inka turned around, she smiled and hugged Soya, listening to what she was saying. She looked at Soya in surprise before looking up at Ville, grinning and throwing her arms around the younger girl in a hug, nodding enthusiastically. Soya grinned back, before turning and running back towards him, picking her bag back up.

“You’ve got two hours of me Mr. Valo.”

“Really?” He asked surprised.

Soya nodded, adjusting the bag on her shoulder. “I mean, if that’s all right.”

“No, no.” he said quickly. “That’s perfect, there’s a coffee shop by my dad’s shop if you want to walk over there.”

Soya nodded. “Yes, that’d be nice.”

“Great.” Ville nodded, looking at her bag. “I can carry that if you want.”

“No, it’s fine.” Soya smiled at him, following him as he led the way towards the coffee shop. “It’s not heavy at all; it just has my clothes in it.”

“How long have you been dancing?” Ville asked, curious about her.

Soya shrugged. “I don’t know, about ten years now.”

“So, since you were five?”

Soya nodded. “Something like that.”

Ville smiled at her. “If you’ve been dancing for ten years and show no signs of quitting, I’m guessing you want to become a professional dancer.”

He watched her shrug again, keeping her eyes to the ground. “I’d love it, we’ll just see if I’m good enough to make it.”

“I’m sure you’re a wonderful dancer.”

“That’s a kind thing to say.” Soya said, finally looking at him. “So, working at your dad’s store, lifelong career or just helping out.”

“Just helping out, I go in when I’m not with the band.”

“Band?” Soya asked.

Ville nodded. “Now that’s my dream, do you want to get a table and I’ll get the coffee?” He asked, as he opened the door to the coffee shop for her.

“Um, yes, that’s fine.” Soya nodded, looking around the coffee shop.

“Anything in particular you want?”

“Something cold with caffeine and chocolate.”

“Easy enough.” Ville nodded as he walked towards the counter, leaving Soya to find a table. Soya found an empty table near the window, dropping her bag on the ground as she sat down and gave a tired yawn.

She looked away from the street and over at Ville who was waiting at the pickup counter as the barista made their coffees. His hands were stuffed in the pockets of his black skinny jeans and his black shirt hung off of his skinny frame loosely. It wasn’t like her to follow boys to coffee shops and talk to them; really it wasn’t like her to talk to boys. Period.

Elli and Inka had been right in the assessment they’d made on Saturday when they left Ville’s father’s shop; Ville had been the first boy that she’d even looked at and had had a conversation with that wasn’t just a dance partner in one of her classes. To be truthful, what he’d said to her in front of the dance studio a mere fifteen minutes ago had rung a bell within her, because just like there was something about her that he couldn’t put his finger on, there was something about him that she couldn’t quite figure out, and she really wanted to. The man had her curious.

“Iced mocha?” he asked, setting the plastic cup in front of her as he held his own warm coffee in his hands.

“Perfect.” She said.

“God, I didn’t even ask, did you want something to eat, I can get you something.”

She put a hand on his arm as he started to get up, causing him to pause. “I’m fine, thank you though.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.” She laughed. “The cook will have dinner ready when I get home, its fine.”

“Cook?” He said slowly.

“Toivonen; my father’s a politician, comes from a wealthy family, my mother can’t cook to save her life.” Soya said with a small smile. “Niina doubles as the cook and the nanny.”

“You have a nanny.” He said, trying to hide the teasing smile.

“Had.” Soya said crossing her arms. “I’d rather not talk about my family to be honest, I’m sorry I opened that can of worms.”

Ville nodded slowly. “All right.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” He shrugged.

“So, you’re in a band.” Soya said slowly, wanting to change the subject.

“Yes.” Ville nodded.

Soya bit her lip as she watched him curiously. “I bet you’re the singer.”

Ville grinned. “Why do you say that?”

“You’ve got such a pretty face.” Soya blinked, and felt the blush stain her cheeks as she quickly grabbed her drink and took a sip.

“Well then, you bet right, I am the singer.”

She swallowed the caffeine and nodded. “What’s the band’s name?”

“His Infernal Majesty, though we’ve been thinking of just going by HIM.”

“Catchy.” Soya grinned.

“We think so.” Ville nodded.

Soya bit her lip as she looked around the coffee shop, before settling her gaze back on Ville who was staring at her. “Sorry,” she sighed. “I’m not good at this.”

“Good at what?” he asked.

“Casual conversation.” She admitted, biting the end of her straw, before taking a sip and setting the cup back on the table. “The friends I have are people I’ve grown up with, we all run in the same….” She shrugged. “Social circles I guess, so I don’t really branch out much. I’ve never had to…”

“Actually get to know someone.” Ville finished for her.

“Yes. I’m sorry if it seems like I’m not interested, I’ve just never had to do this before.”

Ville chuckled, “It’s fine, this is new territory for me as well. I’ve never stalked a girl to her dance studio before.”

Soya laughed. “Well, now I’m flattered.” She ran her finger down the condensation of her cup.

Ville shrugged. “We just have to find some common ground is all.”

Soya nodded, biting her lip as she thought. “Well, do you only sing in the band or do you play anything?”

Ville shrugged. “I play the drums from time to time, a bit of guitar and bass and some keyboards.”

“Impressive.” Soya nodded.

“Do you play anything?” Ville asked.

“I played flute when I was younger, clarinet after that, piano a few years ago and right now it’s the violin and the cello.”

“That’s all?” Ville smirked.

Soya shrugged. “My mother likes to keep me busy, idle hands are apparently the devil’s playthings.” She rolled her eyes. “The couple of hours I’m with Inka and Elli is really the only free time I have during the weeks.”

“With those instruments, I assume you listen to a lot of classical music?”

Soya winced. “I play it so much that I tend not to listen to it unless I’m at practice. I listen to a lot of rock I guess.”

Ville grinned. “Like what?” he asked eagerly.

Soya shrugged. “A lot of KISS, Led Zeppelin on occasion, a bit of Black Sabbath. Really anything Inka and Elli have in their cars and most the time the tapes aren’t even theirs but belong to their boyfriends.”

“See!” He said excitedly, grinning wildly, showing off the charming gap between his teeth. “Common ground!”

Soya laughed. “Well then, this is a good start.”

“Are you a reader?” Ville asked.

“I can, if that’s what you’re asking.” She said smartly, causing him to laugh.

“What do you read?” He asked.

“I don’t know, a lot. Right now it’s mostly all for school, but I did start reading _‘The Sorrows of Young Werther_’ by Johan Wolfgang von Goethe, it’s a depressing book,” she admitted, “but I love it. I’m guessing you read.”

“I can.” He mocked, causing her to smile. “Yes,” He nodded. “I do; I’m a Poe fan.”

Soya squealed, quickly covering her mouth, blushing at her reaction as Ville laughed at her. “Sorry,”

“It’s fine.” He laughed.

“I love _‘The Tell-Tale Heart’_ and _‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue’_.”

“You’re a smart girl, aren’t you?” Ville asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I’m not dumb.” She said with a frown.

“No, no. That’s not what I meant.” He laughed. “I meant you’re much more well-read than most girls your age. I’m guessing if I talked to your friends Inka and Elli, they wouldn’t know who Edgar Allan Poe or Johann Wolfgang von Goethe are.”

“No, Inka and Elli don’t read anything other than what school requires them to, and even then, they’re always asking me what the books are about.” Soya laughed, only to frown as she saw the black car pull up in front of the coffee shop watching as the driver got out and looked around. “Oh.” She groaned.

“What is it?”

Soya sighed. “I’m being searched for.” She grabbed her bag and smiled at him. “I have to go.”

“I’ll walk you out.” Ville said as he grabbed his coffee leading her out of the restaurant.

“Soya! Olen etsinyt sinua kaikkialta!” _(Soya! I’ve been looking all over for you!)_

“Anteeksi Nathen.” Soya said quietly as she opened the door and threw her bag in, looking back at the man that drove her everywhere. “I had coffee with a friend.”

Nathan looked away from the teen, over to the young man standing beside her. “Hello.”

“Hei.” Ville said, giving a small smile.

“I’m Nathan, Soya’s driver.”

Ville nodded. “Ville, I’m Soya’s friend.”

“A new friend I’m assuming, as she doesn’t have male friends.” Nathan laughed, making the dimples on his cheeks appear.

“Nathan!” Soya hissed.

“Ah, little Soya, I only tease. Now say goodbye, we’re already running late. I have to take you to get your dress for this weekend’s party and then your haircut, and don’t forget you’ve got your cello lesson after dinner. Go on, say goodbye.” Nathan said motioning her to turn to Ville, before he slid back into the car.

“Busy girl.” Ville stated.

“Very.” Soya sighed. “I’m sorry I have to cut this short.”

“It’s fine.” Ville laughed. “I’m glad we got to know each other a bit better.”

Soya bit her lip, looking at Nathan who winked at her, before turning back to Ville. “Do you work Saturday?”

Ville shook his head. “I have band practice in the afternoon though.”

“Oh, well, this Saturday my dance class is being cut short due to my teacher having to go out of town, so if you’re free I’ll be out around two; Nathan can pick me up later that afternoon. I mean…if you’re free?”

Ville nodded slowly. “Yes, I’ll be free.”

“Great.” Soya said, capturing her lip again. “See you on Saturday then.”

“I’ll be outside waiting.” Ville nodded with a grin.

“Great.” Soya repeated. “I have to go now, thank you for the coffee.”

Ville nodded. “Thank you for the company.”

Soya smiled at him, tucking her hair behind her ear, before she turned and slid into the back seat of the car, closing the door. She gave Ville a final wave, before Nathan pulled away from the curb and towards the dress shop where she had to pick up a dress for a political party she had to attend that weekend.

“He seems like a nice young man.” Nathan said looking at Ville from the rear-view mirror.

Soya turned, looking out the back window to see Ville crossing the street towards his father’s shop. “He does, doesn’t he?”


	4. DS: Chapter 66: Ville Babysits Aida

Ville yawned as he climbed the steps to Soya’s apartment; it had been one of their rare nights apart, as he’d been at the studio late and it was Soya’s day to spend time with her sister, but because they’d slept apart that night, he’d barley gotten any sleep. He figured since he wasn’t sleeping anyway, he might as well pay Soya a visit and see if he could take her and her sister for lunch.

He dug the keys out of his pants pockets once he reached Soya’s floor and unlocked the door, stepping into the apartment, only to freeze when he saw a pair of grey eyes pop out from behind the couch.

“Hello.” He said with a small smile as he closed the door, only for the eyes to disappear as Aida hid behind the cushions.

“Oh, _isi_ Ville’s here.” Ville turned at the sound of his name seeing Soya at the entrance of the kitchen with her cell phone to her ear. “No, I’m sure he won’t mind, all right, I’ll see you tonight.” Soya hung up the phone and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. “Hi.”

“What won’t I mind?” Ville asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I need a huge favor.” She admitted with a shy smile, leaning up and kissing him.

“Is kissing the favor? Because I definitely won’t mind that.”

“No.” Soya laughed, kissing him again. “But it can be your reward if you do me the favor.”

“What’s the favor?” he asked, looking over at the couch when Aida popped her eyes out again, only to hide once more when their eyes made contact.

“So, the contractor on my building called a bit earlier.”

“Uh huh?” Ville nodded looking back at his girlfriend.

“And I need to go over there, but I don’t know how long I’ll be so I don’t want to take Aida with me and have her be bored as I talk business.”

“All right.” Ville nodded.

Soya bit her lip. “Ville, do you mind watching her?”

Ville blinked. “What?”

“Just for a couple of hours, I’ll try and be as quick as possible, my father’s fine with it. It’s just he’s in Sipoo right now and I don’t want him to come all the way down here just to pick her up.”

“Soya.” Ville looked over at the couch, before pulling Soya into the kitchen, not wanting Aida to hear his hesitancy.

“I mean, Linde’s told me you’ve watched Olivia before, and you told me that you’ve had Impi for weekends while Rosalind and Jyrki go out.”

“Because I’ve watched Olivia and Impi grow up Soya, I know how to take care of them. I’m their uncle Ville. I don’t know Aida, and Aida doesn’t know me.”

“Then this is a great time to get to know each other!” Soya grinned.

“Soya, she can barely look me in the eye, let alone talk to me. I’m pretty sure she hates me.”

“No! She doesn’t hate you! She likes you; she’s told me so!” Soya assured. “She just doesn’t know how to interact with people she doesn’t know. She’s shy, like me! And you like me shy!”

“Well yes, Soya, but that’s different.” Ville sighed not sure why he was bothering fighting it. At the end of the day, no matter what Soya asked of him he’d do it. “Fine.”

“Really?”

“Just put in a movie, right?”

Soya nodded. “Right. She’s in the living room coloring, lunch is ready so whenever Aida gets hungry just feed her.” She went over and hugged her boyfriend. “Thank you so much Ville.”

Ville nodded, kissing the top of her head. “Of course.” He let her go and watched as she left the kitchen to go to her room, leaning against the jamb of kitchen entrance watching as Soya came out of her room, her purse over her shoulder, kissing him one last time.

“I’ll try and be quick.”

“It’s fine, Soya.” Ville assured, watching her give a small smile before going over the couch and leaning over the back of it to look at her sister.

_“ Aion mennä töihin vähän, jooko? Ville katsella sinua, jos tarvitset jotakin vain hän tietää, okei? Rakastan sinua” **(I’m going to go to work for a bit all right? Ville is going to watch you, if you need anything, just let him know all right? Love you.)**_ Soya said, kissing her sister before looking at Ville.

“Go, we’ll be fine.”

Soya nodded once more before leaving the apartment, leaving Ville and Aida alone. Ville sighed before going towards the couch where he saw Aida laying with a coloring book in front of her and a box of colored pencils on the floor next to her. She looked up briefly, before looking back down at her coloring book and picking the pink pencil up.

“All right.” Ville said, walking over to the entertainment center looking at the movies Soya had. “So, Aida, have any movies you want to watch?” he asked, looking over his shoulder at the young girl who kept her eyes on her book.

Ville sighed as he looked through the DVD’s, usually when Olivia and Impi were being difficult and indecisive he’d put in a scary movie, and after five minutes they’d finally choose a movie they wanted to watch. He had a feeling it wouldn’t go over really well with Aida. “Soya has _Cinderella_…want to watch that one?” he asked, looking back over at Aida, who was going through her colored pencils that sat on the floor.

Ville sighed and moved towards the couch, crouching down next to her. “I know you don’t know me.” He said softly. “And you really don’t even have to talk or look at me, but at least help me out with a nod.”

Aida finally looked up at him with a frown, causing Ville to frown back only to wince when he realized he’d been speaking English, he and Soya switched back and forth with such ease that he hadn’t realized that he’d been speaking English, when Soya had spoken Finnish to Aida earlier. _“ Anteeksi. Soya kertoi et ymmärrä paljon Englanti.” **(Sorry, Soya told me you only understand a bit of English)**_

He watched as Aida bit her lip, a small smile crossing her lips before she looked down at her coloring book. _“Se on okei.”**(It’s okay)**_ she said so softly he nearly missed it. She crawled off the couch and went towards the entertainment center, opening the bottom drawer below the TV and pulling out a movie. She brought it back to him causing him to raise his eyebrow.

_“Madagascar?”_ he said with a smirk, looking at her.

_“Se on ainoa soija on suomalainen.”**(It’s the only one Soya has in Finnish.)**_ Aida said quietly climbing back onto the couch, laying on her stomach and looking back at her book.

Ville nodded knowing that Soya had the second one in Finnish as well. Standing up, he put the movie in the DVD player, letting it play before sitting on the couch, resting his feet on the coffee table and grabbing the remote from the cushion by his side.

He turned to Aida before he pressed play. _“Mielestäni Soya popcornia, haluat minun saada sinulle?”** (I think Soya has some popcorn, do you want me to get you some?)**_

Aida shook her head as she looked down at her box of pencils and thumbed through them looking for another color.

“All right.” Ville nodded, pressing play and letting the movie run as he rested on the couch. It was amazing how nervous he was just babysitting Soya’s eight-year-old sister. It wasn’t until that moment that he realized just how much Aida’s opinion of him mattered. Sighing, he closed his eyes as he leaned his head back on the couch, trying to figure out a way to get to know Aida without pushing her to much, because if Aida was anything like Soya, pushing wouldn’t get him anywhere.

_“Olet Moto-Moto.”**(You’re Moto-Moto)**_ Aida said quietly, causing Ville to open his eyes and look over at her, only to find her staring back at him in interest.

_“Olen”(I am)_ he said slowly, wondering where the little girl was going with the conversation.

Aida nodded slowly. _“En tykännyt Moto-Moto”**(I didn’t like Moto-Moto)**_

Ville felt himself deflated as he heard her quiet voice, knowing that in kids’ minds, when they didn’t like a character it usually meant they didn’t like the person. “Oh.” he said quietly, looking back at the TV, though he felt Aida continue to stare at him. He heard her sigh only for him to look back at her.

_“Sisareni todella rakastaa sinua ,vai?” **(My sister really loves you, huh?)**_

Ville raised an eyebrow, not sure what it was with the Toivonens and using the word ‘love’ when it came to his and Soya’s relationship. _“Haluan luulee välittää minulle paljon”** (I like to think she cares for me a lot)**_ he answered carefully.

_“Rakastatko häntä?”** (Do you love her?)**_

“Ah...” Ville chuckled, knowing there really wasn’t a difference with kids between the word ‘love’ and ‘like a lot’ _“Saan siellä.”**(I’m getting there)**_ he said vaguely, although he smiled lightly at Aida.

Aida nodded slowly as if contemplating something before she looked back up at him. _“Valehtelin”** (I lied)**_

Ville frowned at her. _“Mistä?”**(About?)**_

Aida sighed. “I can speak English.”

Ville laughed. “Can you?”

“And I did like Moto-Moto.” Aida said with a roll of her eyes.

“Good to know.” Ville chuckled.

“You’re not mad?” Aida asked with a frown.

Ville shook his head. “Why would I be mad?”

“I lied.”

“You didn’t lie, I assumed.” Ville shrugged. “It’s not like speaking Finnish is that hard for me.” he turned and winked at her. “I also grew up speaking it, you know. As for lying about not liking Motto-Motto,” Ville shrugged. “Honestly I’m more worried about you not liking me.”

Aida frowned at him. “But Soya likes you.”

Ville chuckled. “Sure, but Soya isn’t you.” he looked at her and could tell that much like Soya, Aida acted much older than she was. “Can I speak freely?”

Aida eyed him before nodding slowly. “Okay.”

“You mean a whole lot to Soya, you know that? No matter how old you are or where you are, you’re always going to be a large part of Soya’s life. It’s something that cannot and will not change, you know that, right?”

Aida frowned but nodded. “I know.” she said quietly.

“And I want to be a large part of Soya’s life as well.” He said carefully. “And I know that in being in her life, I need to get to know you,_ I want_ to get to know you.” Ville shrugged. “I’m just hoping you give me that chance.”

He watched her carefully as she tugged her lower lip into her mouth, much like Soya would when she contemplated something, before giving a small nod. She got off the couch and went towards the door, picking up a pink backpack that sat near the doorway and bringing it to the couch. She unzipped the bag and pulled out multiple coloring books setting them on the coffee table and sitting in front of them.

Ville frowned at her, not sure what had just come of their conversation, only to smile when Aida looked up at him and nudged the box of pencils towards him. “Wanna color with me?”

“Sure.” Ville said setting the box on the table and picking through the coloring books.

Two hours, one large veggie pizza, four cokes and two movies later, they both looked up when Soya walked in through the door.

“I didn’t mean to take so long.” Soya said instantly dropping her purse on the ground and closing the door behind her. “Did you guys order pizza?”

“We left you some.” Aida said getting up from the floor. “Want me to get it for you?”

“Would you sweetheart? I’m starving.” Soya said, kissing the top of her sister’s head as Aida went to the kitchen and Soya fell onto the couch behind her boyfriend. “Had fun today?”

“Aida’s a sweet kid, we had fun.”

Soya grinned and looked at the table where Ville was still coloring with Aida. “She must really like you.”

Ville frowned. “Why do you say that?”

“Aida doesn’t just let anyone color in her books.” Soya said with a grin, kissing his cheek. “She’s a perfectionist when it comes to her coloring books; everything has to be inside the lines and the right colors. She must really like you to let you color in her books and let you color the duck red, that’s huge.” Soya laughed. “I’m sort of jealous; she doesn’t even let me color the ducks red.”

Ville grinned. “I’m just likable.”

“Soya? Do you want water?” Aida asked.

Soya groaned as she got off the couch. “I’ll grab it.” Soya called back, before smiling down at her boyfriend. “You are very likable, love. See? I told you it wouldn’t be so bad.” she teased before going towards the kitchen.

Ville looked down at the coloring book with a smile. It was a small act on Aida’s part, allowing him to color in her books, but it meant so much to him. He looked back up when Aida and Soya came out of the kitchen, Aida sitting next to him while Soya took a seat on the couch behind him.

“What’s next?” Aida asked. “The movie’s over.”

Soya swallowed the piece of pizza she had in her mouth before nudging Ville’s side with her shoe. “Pick a book and read.”

“Really?” Ville asked.

“Oh yes!” Aida said getting up. “I’ll pick it! Soya, where’s the one about the pig and the spider?”

_“Charlotte’s Web.”_ Soya laughed “and it’s in the guest room where you left it last.”

“Can you read that one?” Aida asked Ville.

“Sure, go get it.” Ville nodded, watching as she rushed out of the room.

Soya grinned, leaning down and kissing the side of his neck. “I’m glad you guys get along.”

Ville turned and kissed her lightly. “Believe me when I say, I’m glad too.”


	5. DS: Chapter 101: Ville’s Lace and Heel Obsession

** _Sunday October 31, 2010_ **

“Right now, we’re alone, in a hotel room, in Berlin, with shopping bags full of heels that I know you’ll love and lace underwear you have yet to see.”

“All right, I’m not mad anymore.”

“That’s what I thought.” Soya laughed, shifting off of him. “The bags are in the bedroom, go get them and I might just be inclined to model some of the underwear for you.”

“And best fiancé of the year award definitely goes to you.” Ville said getting off the couch to get the shopping bags.

“Of the year?!” Soya asked with a laugh. “I don’t model underwear for just _anyone_ you know!”

“Oh, I know.” Ville said bringing the bags out of the room and setting them on the table, only to go back to the room for the second round. “How much did you spend today?”

Soya shrugged. “Lost track, the receipts are in here somewhere.”

Ville looked at her amused as he moved the coffee table, giving him room to sit on the floor and grab the bags one by one behind him. “You know back in May you said you didn’t spend money all that much.”

“Do you remember everything I say?” Soya asked with a raised eyebrow, sitting on the edge of the couch.

“I have a feeling you exaggerated greatly.” Ville said, rummaging through one of the black bags, only to look up and grin at her. “I feel like it’s Christmas.”

Soya laughed. “I’ll remind you of that when you ask for your present this year, and I didn’t exaggerate. I really don’t spend that much money, you know, unless I find a really cute pair of shoes.”

“Or purse.” He said holding up an aqua blue clutch with a pout.

“Or a purse.” Soya laughed grabbing the clutch from his hand. “And don’t judge, I have a dress that goes perfectly with this. Anyway, I saved my money for far too long not to enjoy it now. I happen to like shopping and with the right prompting I’m inclined to spend said money.”

“And what was the prompt for this?” Ville teased holding up yet another purse.

“Nothing, other then I liked it.” Soya said grabbing the light grey clutch from his hand.

“You have about a million grey purses.” Ville said taking the receipt out of the bag. “And a million blue ones.”

“And one more in each pile won’t hurt, plus these didn’t cost _that_ much.”

Ville laughed as he looked at the receipt. “Soya!”

“What?!” Soya asked.

“The blue one was nearly 400 Euros!”

Soya rolled her eyes. “Do I have to remind you about my clutch that’s nearly two thousand dollars, the one you wanted me to throw up in?”

“Please don’t.” Ville laughed, setting the receipt next to his leg, curious to see how much Soya had spent on purses, shoes, and underwear.

“Which bag has the underwear?” Ville asked

Soya laughed at the eagerness in his tone. “The blue ones.”

Ville looked behind him to see three blue bags; he grabbed one and rummaged through it grinning when he came out with a pair of red lace panties and the matching red see through bra.

“Thought you’d like that one.” Soya said with a roll of her eyes.

“Go put it on.” Ville said, tossing the underwear at her.

“So demanding.” Soya said gathering the set and moving to the bedroom.

“Wait!” Ville laughed. “You have any shoes to match them?”

Soya laughed leaning against the doorway. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, did you get any shoes to match it?”

“I don’t match my shoes to my underwear Ville!” Soya laughed.

“Of course you do!” Ville accused, as he’d seen her pick an entire outfit based solely on the underwear and shoes she’d picked out. “I know you have some red shoes in here somewhere.”

Soya rolled her eyes as she rummaged through the bags, lifting lids of her shoe boxes before grabbing one long box and going back into the room, and sliding the door closed. He kept rummaging through the bag, only to grin when he found a matching black lace bra and matching little boy shorts. She’d definitely taken his love of lace to heart when she’d made her purchases, he thought as he laid them on the floor next to them, before turning back to grab the white bags that had Soya’s shoe purchases.

He was about to start taking them out then he heard the door slide open, turning around he laughed. “You can’t wear the shirt!” Though she was still wearing his black shirt, she wore red heeled boots that went just over her knee. “Though I really love the boots, I think that’s what I love, the boots.”

Soya rolled her eyes as she lifted the hem of his shirt inching it upward to show him the red panties, then higher, reveling the flat expanse of her pale stomach, her skin tone losing its golden tan the more time she spent in the Arctic Circle, before pulling the shirt over her head, showing him the red translucent bra that cupped her breasts.

Ville shifted on the floor, moving so he was leaning back against the couch as he took her in. “I like it.”

“Just like?” Soya asked placing her hands on her hips.

“All right, love.” Ville laughed, before throwing the black set he’d found. “Now this one.”

Soya shook her head. “You’re not even taking the time to appreciate this one!”

“Oh trust me, I appreciate it.” Ville smirked. “I _appreciate_ how see through that bra is, I _appreciate_ how willing you are to actually model all this for me, and I will definitely _appreciate_ that net set with whatever other shoes you bought.”

Soya grinned at him, looking through her bags, before getting another shoe box out and going back into the room. Ville couldn’t help but grin himself as he reached for the table and gathered the bags with shoes in them. He pulled one of the boxes out of the bags, flipping it open and pulling out a black boot like heel.

“They’re considered pumps.” Soya said, laughing at Ville’s look of confusion. “They’re more like peep toe boots though.”

“Peep toe…” Ville said looking at Soya, very much enjoying the view she gave him as he took in the sheer black lace boy shorts and the matching bra, though the bra cups weren’t sheer, they were indeed padded, pushing her breasts out.

“The hole for the toes.” She said moving towards him and bending down to stick her fingers in the shoes, wiggling them through the holes “Peep.”

“Put them on?”

Soya blinked and nodded, sitting on the edge of the coffee table, and taking the black and red lace booties she’d put on off. Ville handed her one of the black heels, watching as she slipped them on slowly, before wiggling her toes.

“Peep huh?” He asked, standing up, before grabbing her hand helping her up, wrapping his arm around her waist and lifting her up over his shoulder causing her to squeal.

“Ville!”

“I don’t know what it is Soya, but your underwear and your heels get me all riled up, really it’s the lace and the boots.”

Soya laughed as he threw her lightly on the bed causing her to bounce as she hit the mattress, shaking her hair back so it fell behind her back. “Ville, before you ravish me, as I can see it in your eyes.” She teased, licking her lips, “I am asking right now, do not rip this set.”

“I would never.”

“Ville.” Soya warned, as he leaned over her. “No ripping.”

“Fine, no ripping.”

Soya laughed as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Fine then, ravish away.”

_ **XxxxxxX** _

Ville moved off the bed slowly, kissing Soya’s bare shoulder, before putting his underwear on and moving to the end of the bed, carefully taking off Soya’s shoes and set them on the floor. Moving to the little living room he sat back on the floor and looked at the small pile of receipts before looking through the rest of the bags to scrounge for the receipts.

Finding them all, he looked at the total, only to shake his head in amazement at just how much Soya had spent on shoes, underwear and purses.

“So how much did I spend?” Soya asked, causing Ville to look up, seeing her wrapped in the thin sheet from the bed.

“About three thousand.”

Soya nodded slowly. “That sounds about right.”

He leaned down as he caught sight of a little black bag that was wedged behind the love seat. “Wait, I didn’t account for that one.”

“And that’s one you don’t need to account for.”

Ville looked up at her. “And why not?”

Soya rolled her eyes “Add an extra thousand if it makes you happy to count it.”

“Thousand? Soya what’s in the bag?”

“None of your business. It’s mine.” Soya said crossing her arms over her chest, holding the sheet closer.

“You, my dear, are an addict.” Ville said letting the bag go. He’d find out eventually what she was hiding, and he had a feeling it would be worth it.

“As if you get no enjoyment out of my addiction.” She teased. “Come back to bed _kultaseni_.” She said smiling at him, turning back into the bedroom and dropping the sheet that was around her body. “You were complaining that we didn’t have enough alone time, and now that you have me alone you sit there counting my receipts. What in the world am I going to do with you?”

Ville stood up and rushed to the room, wrapping his arm around her bare waist. “Love me?”

Soya turned brushing her lips against his. “Always.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Soya's purchases](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/222576406571950615/)


	6. Extended Scene: Chapter 112: Tell Me Something

_ **November 23, 2010  
1:00am** _

“Tell me something I don’t know.” Ville said, his fingers tracing the blank space over her shoulder blades that would soon hold her new tattoo.

“I _despise_ Josef’s cooking.” Soya laughed, turning her face to lie on Ville’s pillow. “The man can survive on oatmeal and protein shakes, a girl just _can’t_ live that way.”

Ville laughed. “Soya.”

Soya sighed and turned around to rest on her back, Ville propping himself up on his elbow as he lay on his side next to her. “I wrote you a letter when I first left.”

“Did you?”

“I did.” Soya said giving a slight nod.

“I never got it.”

“Because I never sent it.” Soya said looking up at him, moving to mimic his position, propping herself up on her side.

“Why not?”

Soya shrugged. “I wrote it, put it in an envelope, even addressed it and thought about sending it, before just stuffing it in one of my desk drawers and forgetting about it.”

“You forgot about it?” Ville teased.

Soya rolled her eyes at herself. “All right, _tried_ to forget about it.”

“What was in the letter?”

“Mmmm, let’s see, I’m pretty sure it said that I missed you, and that I never wanted to leave home in the first place, and not to feel as if it were your fault that I got sent away.” Soya said with a slight frown, only to laugh. “And oh yes, I’m pretty sure I wrote my undying love for you in the letter as well.”

Ville laughed as he moved her so she was lying on her back with him hovering over her. “Really?”

Soya laughed at herself, as she thought about the unsent letter. “I’ve told you, I had the biggest crush on you, so when I wrote the letter, I wanted to tell you that I loved you.”

“What happened to it?”

Soya frowned as she thought about it, before remembering. “I was packing up my things; it was the last night I was going to be spending in the Juilliard dorms as I was going to be heading back home for my first tour.” She nodded as she remembered what had happened. “I had argued with my mother that night, she kept going on and on about how when I went home, I was to rehearse, eat and sleep in that order. I, on the other hand, wanted to have a life outside of dance. I wanted to see you. I wanted to see Linde and Mige. I wanted to see one of your concerts, as you’d gotten ridiculously famous by then.” She teased, rubbing her thumb down his cheek as he grinned.

“What happened?”

“My mother told me I wasn’t allowed any place other than with the company, and if I disobeyed, she would know, I went back to my dorm, angry, frustrated with the situation and myself.” She shook her head. “I started packing up my desk and I found the letter.” She sighed. “I opened it and reread it, got even angrier, ripped it up and threw it away.”

“Why did you do that?”

Soya shrugged. “I convinced myself that even if you had liked me the way I had liked you that you’d wouldn’t want to be with me. I told myself that it was just some puppy crush and if by chance we did see each other again when I got home I’d be content in just being your friend. Which is what made me angry again because I figured you didn’t even want to be my friend, and that’s when I ripped the letter.”

“The mind of a young girl is mindboggling; I hope you know that.”

Soya laughed. “I do.”

“But you went to go see my parents when you came back didn’t you?” Ville asked, “That’s how you ended up with the picture of us.”

“I snuck off and went to see them, yes, they took me to lunch and told me that you missed me just as much as I missed you.”

“Did they also tell you that I cared for you just as you cared for me?”

“They did.” Soya laughed. “But I didn’t believe them.”

Ville laughed, kissing her forehead. “What I felt for you then,” Ville shook his head. “I liked you far more then I should have Soya, but it’s not until now that I really realize what ‘love’ is.”

Soya wrinkled her nose at him. “It wouldn’t have worked with us back then, Ville. We weren’t ready for each other. Your turn.”

“My turn?”

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

“What do you want to know?”

Soya rubbed his back, as he rested his weight on her. “Tell me what made you get sober.”

“You’ve read the interviews.” Ville said with a shrug.

“But I haven’t heard it from _you_.” Soya pointed out.

“When blood starts coming out of every orifice, it’s time to go to rehab.” Ville said, kissing the center of her chest, before resting his chin there. “As a Fin, you drink, mostly because there’s nothing to do other than drink, mix in touring and free alcohol; it’s easy to lose yourself. It’s easy to self-destruct.” He closed his eyes when he felt her hands run through his hair. “It’s hard to admit you have a problem, but when everything starts to fall apart around you and when a doctor tells you that if you keep drinking the way you do your heart is going to fail, you learn to do it.”

He opened his eyes and smiled lightly at her. “I’m healthy now, have been for four years, I’m still a miserable fuck a lot of the times, but I’ve found a way to deal with my issues and…” he kissed her chest again. “I’m a lot happier now.”

“What happened before you went to rehab?”

Ville chuckled lowly, leaning down to kiss her stomach. “You wouldn’t have asked if you don’t already know.”

“Ville.” Soya said tugging lightly on his hair.

“I wanted one last good binge before I went off to rehab and sobered up. Bam was up here visiting and humored me; we drank everything we could find; I took more than a few pills as well. Scared the shit out of Bam when I started having an asthma attack, he called an ambulance, I went to the hospital, next morning I was released, and I went off to _Promises_ and got sober. Your turn.”

Soya laughed knowing Ville wouldn’t say more on the subject and also didn’t want her pity so she allowed him to change the subject. “All right, what do you want to know?”

“Tell me about high school.”

Soya groaned. “Of everything I haven’t told you, you want to know about my horrible years in high school?”

“You’re so silent about your first few years in the states, I want to know why.”

“Because they’re not the greatest years.”

“Tell me why.”

Soya sighed as she thought back to the horrible years that were high school. “I never had any free time while in high school, I went to class, after class I went to Juilliard where I again went to classes, didn’t get out until around 10, then went back to my dorm and did my homework. If I wasn’t exhausted after my homework was done, I’d go to one of the studios and dance.”

“This doesn’t explain why you don’t talk about high school.”

“I’m getting to it.” Soya laughed, motioning him to move as she sat up wrapping the sheet around her body as Ville lay on his back looking up at her as she sat cross legged on the bed pulling the sheet around her.

“About a month after I started my new school, my books started disappearing from my locker; I didn’t think much of it, just thought it was a silly little prank by the older students as I wasn’t the only person it had happened to. By the end of the day they would either reappear back in my locker or I’d find them in random places around the school. _Then_ a few months later, my bag ripped in the middle of the hall as I was rushing to class, it was a brand new bag that Josef had bought me to make up for dropping me in one of our dance classes and when I looked at it at the end of the day, the bottom seam had been ripped.”

Soya rolled her eyes at herself. “I thought I had caught it on something and when I told Josef about it, he thought it was a bit suspicious but let it go and bought me a new one. That one didn’t last but a week before it ripped again. Again, I told Josef,” Soya laughed at herself. “Really I was in tears when I told him that I had ripped another one.”

“What type of bag was it?” Ville asked sitting up in bed, covering up with the comforter as he leaned back against the headboard.

Soya frowned as she thought about the bags Josef had bought her, “The first two were a gray canvas backpack that Josef had gotten from, god I think it was a _Nordstrom_. Then the last was dark brown leather backpack. I really wasn’t fond of the leather, but Josef said that it was the one he was getting for me, so I took it.”

“That one ripped too?”

Soya nodded. “It did, when I took it to Josef, we figured out that the bottoms of my bags were being cut.”

“I’m guessing Josef was pissed.”

“_So_ angry.” Soya laughed. “But very protective, he asked if I was having any issues with any of my classmates. And I told him that I barely knew my classmate’s names to have problems with them, I never talked to anyone at school or got to know anyone because I focused on school more than the people around me. We both shrugged it off as some older student picking fun at me. So I took to carrying my books to class.”

“Sounds…”

“Tame.” Soya finished with a nod. “It was at first, until the harassment got a bit more vocal. Things would be murmured when I walked down the hall; I was being called stuck-up as well as a prude, though that one didn’t bug me as much as Josef called me _that_ all the time. The pranks got a bit more vicious, I got locked in a girl’s stall once, it took me a few minutes while the girls laughed for me to figure out I could just crawl under the door.”

“It wasn’t until I came back to the dorms late for my dance class soaking wet that Josef finally got fed up and made me tell him everything that was happening.”

“What happened?”

“I was so exhausted from my schedule that I made the mistake of falling asleep in one of the chairs in the library during my free period. A few of the girls that had been harassing me, saw me, grabbed me and took me to the pool where the proceeded to throw me in fully clothed into the deep end.”

Ville narrowed his eyes. “I thought you didn’t know how to swim.”

“I didn’t…” Soya muttered, “I guess another student saw them carrying me, told a teacher and the teacher pulled me out.”

“You passed out, didn’t you?”

“I swallowed a lot of water.” Soya nodded. “When I woke up in the nurse’s office instead of freaking out over having been nearly drowned, I started freaking out because I was late to my dance classes.”

“Only you.” Ville chuckled.

“When I told Josef what happened, he went down to my school looking for blood.” Soya rolled her eyes at her best friend’s behavior. “I guess he ran into the girl that had told the teacher what was happening, and she told him why I was being harassed.”

“Which was?” Ville prompted wondering why girls would harass a classmate they hadn’t even talked to.

“I guess some of the girls thought that I was acting as if I were above everyone, with the way I never interacted with anybody, left right after school and got teacher permission to do group projects on my own. So they thought they were bringing me down from a high horse that I was never on. Josef was pissed to say the least and went off on this girl.” Soya shrugged. “I guess it scared the girl so much that she spread it around school that I had a big bad boyfriend and after that no one really outwardly bothered me.”

“But…” Ville hedged.

“But I would still get nasty notes in my locker, looks when I walked down the hall.” Soya shrugged. “I never really took an interest in people at school, mostly I just wanted to get in and out and make my years in New York go by fast so I could just go home. I always figured that if I did exceedingly well in school and my dance classes, my parents would see and allow me to study dance back at home.”

“And that didn’t happen.” Ville sighed.

“But in my defense, no one ever stopped to talk to me at my school. I got along better with the people at Juilliard then I did with the people at my prep school. No one at school really asked why I left right after school, or why I focused so much on my studies or that the reason my teachers gave me permission to work on group projects by myself was because the only time I’d be able to meet with a group would at ridiculous hours of the night or early morning and I didn’t want to put any of my classmates in that position because I didn’t have a flexible schedule.” Soya shrugged again. “So there you have it, my hellish high school years.”

“Is that why you freaked out at Bam’s when he and his friends dumped water on us that one morning?” Ville asked, remembering how fast Soya had jumped out of the bed and towards the door, which had in turn caused her to twist her ankle.

“Ah, part of it,” Soya laughed. “The other part was that the older girls in the dorms use to dump water on the younger girls to wake us up on the weekend, I took to waking up a lot earlier then I needed to or not going to sleep at all to avoid getting water dumped on me. Again, my hellish high school years, but without them I would never have gotten Rosalind and Josef as my best friends, so in a way, I guess they were good years as well.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good thing either.” Ville laughed, causing Soya to laugh as well.

“All right your turn.”

“All right.” Ville nodded.

Soya bit her lip as she taught about what she wanted to know about Ville. Truthfully most of everything about his life she’d read in interviews or were publicized in the Finnish magazines she’d read while in New York. And everything about his life in the past from before they met to when they’d parted, she’d already known because they’d talked about their lives every time they met. But the nosy part of her knew what she wanted to ask.

“You’re thinking pretty hard over there.” Ville teased.

“I’m thinking of a way to ask this question without sounding accusing.”

Ville shrugged. “Just ask.”

“I read that you broke up with Jonna in a phone call.” Soya said. “True or false?”

“I’d also read a text.” Ville laughed. “False, I was on tour and we’d been arguing _a lot_. We had some pretty nasty fights over the phone, and I got tired of it so we agreed to talk when I got back home. We did and we broke it off, I’m not saying everything went wonderfully, we didn’t have a good break up or relationship by _any_ means, but we did break up in person, though I wish we’d done it over the phone. Was that all you’d wanted to know?”

“You know I don’t like talking about her, I just…”

“You were curious; you have the right to be.” Ville said with a shrug. “I don’t talk about my past relationships out of respect for you, but if you ask, I’ll answer. I have nothing to hide; you on the other hand, hide a lot.”

“Like what!” Soya asked with a gasp. “I may _avoid_ talking about things but I never _hide_ anything.

“What about when you first met _The Dudesons_!”

Soya groaned, “Okay that I hide, do I really have to?”

“Go on, tell me what happened.” Ville teased.

“This doesn’t leave the room Ville!”

Ville nodded with a grin. “I promise.”

Soya sighed. “They gave me a laxative.”

“What?!” Ville laughed, looking at her in shock as she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.

“You heard me. Jarppi swears it was a mild one, but I have my doubts.”

“What in the world happened?” Ville laughed.

Soya rolled her eyes as she told the story “Hannu convinced me to help them with this skit they wanted to do, so after one of our dance classes during one of my very _rare_ free afternoons I agreed to let them use the studio that Mr. Jolien would let me practice in. When I first met them, they seemed nice enough if not a bit hyper, but they were friends of Hannu’s so I couldn’t judge, since Hannu could get just as riled up. About an hour later they finished whatever it was Jarno wanted to film and invited me out to lunch.”

“You didn’t see what they filmed?”

Soya shook her head. “No, I went into another studio to practice.”

“So you went to lunch with them?” Ville prompted.

“I didn’t want to; I wanted to get home, relax a bit before they got home, but Hannu insisted that he wanted me to get to know his friends. He’d been trying to get me to meet them since I’d met him, so I changed and went out to lunch with them.”

“And they gave you a laxative?”

Soya sighed. “We were talking and I saw Nathan outside the restaurant we were in, waiting for me, so I excused myself and went out to talk to him. According to Hannu, while I was outside talking to Nathan, Jarppi, Jarno and Jukka thought it would be hilarious to put half a laxative in my food. It wasn’t.”

Ville rubbed his mouth to keep his laughter in, though by the glare Soya was giving him, he knew he was failing. “Sorry, sorry, so what happened?”

“Well what do you think happened!?” Soya asked throwing her hands up. “We finished lunch, I left because I wasn’t feeling well, Nathan drove me home, and I spent the rest of the night in the bathroom.”

“That story is better than I could have ever imagined it.” Ville laughed.

“Jerk.”

“HP said you got them back.”

“Technically I didn’t get them back; Hannu got them back for me. There’s video of it somewhere in Jarno’s collection of video.”

“What did he do?”

Soya bit her lip as she hid her smile. “Uh…you’ve seen their movie, right?”

“I have.”

“You know when they light Jarno on fire?”

“I do.”

“Yeah…HP did that to all of them…just in a region, much more south.”

Ville winced. “That’s just mean.”

Soya shrugged, but the smile on her face showed that she was anything but indifferent. “I felt it was just, they messed with…my southern regions. HP messed with theirs.”

Ville laughed. “I guess it is just.”

“They’re fine; I mean if Jarppi is able to procreate then I’m sure the rest of them are too.”

Ville laughed. “True.”

“Speaking of procreating, your turn. How many kids do you want us to have?” Soya said, leaning towards him and resting her chin on his chest as his arms circled around her waist.

Ville chuckled, kissing her temple, as he thought about how big of a family he wanted to have with Soya. “I think two is a nice round number. That way they don’t outnumber us.”

Soya laughed. “One for each of us?”

Ville nodded, “I think so, why how many did you want?”

Soya shrugged. “Five or six.”

Ville laughed, “I don’t know who you’re having that brood with, but it’s not me.”

Soya laughed, kissing his chest. “I’ve always wanted a big family, even a stupid little mutt of a dog running around.”

“I think I can only handle three at maximum Soya, no more, that’s midway between the six you want. A nice compromise.”

“We’re compromising about how many kids we’re going to have?”

“I think we are.” Ville nodded.

Soya sighed, “Fine, I can deal with three, but I want to have them at least a year apart from each other.”

“I’ll keep that in mind when we start the process of procreating.” Ville said with a roll of his eyes. “Your turn.”

Soya laughed. “All right, but it’s nearing three so make this question quick.”

“Given the chance would you have taken Aida to New York with you.”

“Without hesitation, yes.” Soya said, leaning up to kiss the bottom of his chin, before climbing out of bed. “I’m going to go brush my teeth, be right back.”

Ville nodded, watching as she gathered her black nightgown from the floor and made her way out of the bedroom, down the hall to the bathroom. He laid back on the bed, his arms crossing over his arms resting over them on his pillow. He stared at the ceiling, his eyes drifting closed in sleep. He felt Soya come back to bed, curling herself to his side, her arm wrapping around his waist. He absently dropped his arm around her back, his fingers dancing along her hip.

_“Hyvää yötä Ville, rakastan sinua.”_ She whispered.

“Good night Soya, love you too.” He whispered back to her, kissing the top of her head. While their pillow talk was in no way conventional, he couldn’t help but love their midnight talks. There were no judgments, just questions and answers. He kissed the top of Soya’s head and closed his eyes to sleep, deciding that this was definitely the best close to one of his birthdays the he could remember.


End file.
